A BARRISTER accused of causing death by dangerous driving was cleared yesterday after the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case against him.

Toby David Gee walked free from court after the jury of eight women and four men was ordered to return a not guilty verdict.

Judge John Rogers QC, told the 34-year-old, of Claylands Road, London, that he left the court with his excellent character "intact".

Mr Gee was arrested following a fatal traffic accident on the A55 expressway at Rhuallt Hill, North Wales on August 13, last year.

Motorcycle pillion passenger Helen Rhodes, from the Aigburth area of Liverpool, died in the accident.

The barrister, who accepted he was driving home from North Wales in a hired Fiat Multipla people carrier on the day of the accident, denied causing death by dangerous driving.

Mr Meirion Lewis-Jones, for the prosecution told Mold Crown Court it had been decided to offer no evidence against the defendant following a two-hour adjournment at the start of the eight-day trial. The move came after the judge ruled that expert evidence to be presented by the prosecution was inadmissible.

Mr Lewis-Jones said video footage examined by experts showed no evidence that a vehicle of the type Mr Gee was driving was involved in the accident.

He said that without that evidence "the prosecution had to consider their position".

"It seemed to us in reality the prosecution were not now able to prove first of all there was a turquoise Fiat Multipla proceeding eastward on the A55 at the time with a W registration or without a sun roof.

"Now those were matters that were inherent to the safe conduct of the prosecution case as it were.

"Without them the prosecution case was, in our view, seriously damaged. The decision we have had to come to is if there is anything to be gained in the public interest in asking the jury to consider any evidence in this case.

"We have come to the conclusion there is no purpose served in offering any evidence against Mr Gee so what I propose to do is offer no evidence against him," added Mr Lewis-Jones.

Gee, wearing a grey pinstripe suit, hugged family and friends as he left the courtroom.

He said: "It is clear that on August 13, 2000, there was a tragic accident in which Helen Rhodes died.

"I have the greatest sympathy for the family and friends of Helen Rhodes. This must have been a terrible time for them.

"The last 12 months have been a very difficult, not to say, Kafkaesque-time for me and my family. I am glad that the prosecution has now accepted that I had nothing to do with this terrible accident," added Mr Gee.

Mrs Rhodes' husband, Peter, said he needed time to consider the day's events. "It is not what we wanted to hear," he added.